In order to determine the resistance of workpieces to stress-corrosion cracking, numerous specimens must be subjected to a prescribed testing procedure for determining the occurence of cracks due to stress-induced corrosion. Normally, workpieces of aluminum or its alloys take about 100 to 5,000 hours before developing signs of rupture. Because these long test periods are a great inconvenience, it has already been proposed to shorten them by immersing the workpieces under stress in an aqueous solution of sodium chloride, thereby speeding up the developement of detectable faults.